1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an omnidirectional monitoring system for taking an omnidirectional image using an omnidirectional camera capable of capturing information of a viewing angle of a maximum of 360 degrees, and zoom-photographing the omnidirectional image centered on a monitoring area automatically or manually specified; an omnidirectional monitoring control method using the same; an omnidirectional monitoring control program usable for the same, and a computer readable recording medium having the program stored therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Monitoring cameras conventionally and generally known as used in security devices installed in, for example, financial institutions and supermarkets include fixed-type and pivotable cameras. Usually, a manager checks a video taken by such a monitoring camera using a monitoring device or the like in the manager's office, so that the manager can recognize any abnormality caused by, for example, a trespasser or a fire and take emergency measures.
A monitoring instrument for allowing the manager to monitor a video taken by the monitoring camera on a screen of a monitoring device is inevitably large-sized and can be quite expensive. Even such a large instrument is still insufficient for accurately monitoring a target of crime prevention at a remote location.
Generally known security monitoring devices include devices which issue an alarm using (i) sensors for sensing a trespasser who intercepts, for example, laser light or infrared rays; or (ii) sensors for sensing fires and gas leaks. When such a security device using such a sensor gives an alarm, the manager can recognize that an abnormality has occurred, but cannot obtain accurate information by visually checking the degree or details of the abnormality.
As the number of crimes increases year by year, a security monitoring system has been demanded for allowing the manager at a remote location to accurately identify the occurrence of an abnormality while monitoring the target of crime prevention without requiring the manager to pay special attention.
Proposals for solving the above-described problems are described in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 3-84700 directed to “Remote Monitoring Device”, Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 4-176484 directed to “Monitoring System in Play Hall”, and Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 11-259775 directed to “Monitoring System”.
The “Remote Monitoring Device” disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 3-84700 operates as follows. A plurality of sensors are dispersed in blocks of a monitoring area such that each sensor can detect an abnormality in the respective block. When an abnormality is detected, a TV camera is automatically directed to the site of the abnormality, and transfers the abnormality detection signal and the video signal captured by the TV camera to a terminal in the monitoring office. The terminal automatically displays the image of the site of the abnormality and related information. Thus, the situation at the site of the abnormality is recognized easily and with certainty.
The “Monitoring System in Play Hall” disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 4-176484 operates as follows. A monitoring video camera is set to a monitoring state for monitoring a game machine, which has been determined to be in an abnormality based on the result of analysis of information obtained by abnormality detection means. The video information on that game machine is displayed on the screen of the video camera. Thus, the monitoring efficiency of each game machine can be improved at low equipment cost.
The “Monitoring System” disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 11-259775 operates as follows. An image of a monitoring area is captured by a wide-range camera, and the captured image is compared with an image of a normal state so as to find a difference. Thus, an abnormality is detected. When an abnormality occurs, an image of the abnormality is captured by the wide-range camera, and also an image at an important location is captured by a zoom camera. The image obtained by the wide-range camera and the image obtained by the zoom camera are transferred to a terminal computer. Thus, a manager at a remote location can recognize that the situation of the abnormality relatively in detail, and accurately specify the degree of the abnormality and the like.
The above-described technologies have the following problems.
In the case of the “Remote Monitoring Device” disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 3-84700, the sensors are dispersed. This means that the sensors can detect abnormalities only at sites where the sensors are located. In addition, certain types of sensor can only detect an abnormality of the respective type. There are other problems in that the reliability of the sensors dispersed may be lowered, and it is difficult to control the position of the TV camera with respect to the sensors.
In the case of the “Monitoring System in Play Hall” disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 4-176484, abnormality detection means including various sensors needs to be located in the vicinity of each game machine. Therefore, abnormalities only at site where the sensors are located can be detected. There are other problems in that the sensors may malfunction because of the environment in which the sensors are located, and it is troublesome to control the position of the TV camera with respect to the various sensors.
In the case of the “Monitoring System” disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 11-259775, the wide-range camera acts as one sensor for comparing an image of a target of monitoring and an image of a normal state and detecting an abnormality based on the difference. The zoom camera is set to be directed to several preset important locations. The zoom camera is not structured so as to track the sites of abnormality photographed by the wide-range camera and to have the position and the magnification ratio thereof controlled. Therefore, when there are many important locations, the important location at which an abnormality has occurred needs to be visually checked. This requires images of a plurality of important locations to be taken simultaneously.